Clean water for the community

Project Overview

The Clean Water for the Community project aims to provide safe, affordable, and easily accessible drinking water to the residents of Nairobi’s Soweto informal settlement. Through our Milele Purified Water initiative, we seek to improve community health, reduce waterborne diseases, and empower families economically by offering clean water at a fair cost.

Progress and Achievements

Over the past two years,Sheepcare Community Centre through this project has made notable progress in both production and community outreach:

1. Increased Water Production and Distribution:
   Our purified water plant has consistently produced over 5,000 liters of clean water per day, serving more than 350 households and institutions.

2. Improved Access Points:
   We established two new water distribution points within the community, reducing the average distance residents walk for clean water from 1 km to less than 300 meters.

3. Constant supply of clean water for use in the school:
   The project has continued supplying purified water to both our primary and Secondary schools, ensuring that over 400 children access safe drinking water daily. This has helped reduce absenteeism due to water-related illnesses.

4. Community Awareness and Hygiene Promotion:
   Our team conducted awareness campaigns and hygiene sensitization sessions for women and youth groups. These sessions emphasized proper water storage, handwashing, and environmental cleanliness.

5. Installation of Solar Pumping System- We managed to finish the first phase of solar installation to help reduce our relliance on Electricity, We continue to appeal to donors to help us finish the second phase that requires about $4500

Challenges

Despite the progress, we have faced a few challenges including:

• High Operational Costs: Inflation electricity bill and maintenance expenses have increased the cost of production.

• Equipment Maintenance: Occasional mechanical breakdowns of our pumps,generator, piping system , have slowed down water production.

• Community Demand: The growing population in Soweto Slums has increased demand beyond our current production capacity.

We are actively exploring partnerships and seeking additional funding to expand capacity and finish the second phase of our solar-powered systems to reduce operational costs.

Impact Story

One of our beneficiaries, Mary , a mother of three, shared:

“Before Sheepcare started selling Milele Purified Water, my children often fell sick from dirty water. Now, I can fetch clean water just near my home, and my family has been healthy. Thank you for bringing this change to our community.”

Stories like Mary’s inspire us to continue expanding access to clean, safe water for more families.

Next Steps

In the coming months, we plan to:

• Install an additional storage tank to boost supply.

• Complete the second phase of our solar system to power the purification plant.

• Strengthen partnerships with local schools and health centers for wider reach.

• Continue community training on water hygiene and sanitation.

Acknowledgment

We sincerely thank our donors, partners, and supporters on GlobalGiving for standing with us. Your contributions are transforming lives, one drop at a time. Together, we are building a healthier and more hopeful future for the Sheepcare community.

With gratitude,
Joshua Omondi Ochieng
Projects Manager
Sheepcare Community Centre

Links:

• Our Website

Dear GlobalGiving Team and Esteemed Donors,

Warm greetings from Sheepcare Community Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. We are pleased to share with you the latest progress on our project “Clean Water for the Community”, made possible through your continued support and generosity.

Project Overview

Access to clean and safe water remains a basic yet critical need for many families in the informal settlements of Nairobi. Through this project, Sheepcare Community Centre set out to provide reliable, safe drinking water to children in school and to surrounding community households in the Soweto slums;Nairobi. The goal is to reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, promote hygiene, and alleviate the burden of searching for water among vulnerable families.

Key Achievements This Period

• We maintained a continuous supply of water to 500 households in our neighborhood and our over 300 children and staff hence improving our school operation.
• We increased our water purification from 3000 liters per week to 5000 liters per week. Children now have access to safe drinking water throughout the day. This has also helped us raise our income through the sales which have supported our feeding program
• Health and Hygiene has greatly improved since there is enough water for hand washing and drinking within the school. This has also extended to the community since we have provided them with steady water supply.
• We conducted a Hygiene Training Sessions where over 200 children and 60 caregivers underwent training on handwashing, water storage hygiene, and the dangers of contaminated water.

Impact Stories

“Before, we had to walk far and queue for water that wasn’t always clean,” shares Mary, a mother of two who lives near the Centre. “Now we can fetch clean water closer and know our children are safe.”

Grace, one of our students admitted last term, no longer suffers recurring stomach aches after drinking untreated water. His performance in school has improved due to fewer health-related absences.

Challenges Faced

• Rising Costs: Increased utility and equipment costs affected our ability to scale the project as fast as planned.
• Infrastructure Strain: More families want access than the current system can accommodate, leading to long queues during peak times.

 Next Steps

•  Expand Storage Capacity: We aim to install three additional water tanks to serve more households and reduce refill cycles.
• Improve Purification Methods: We plan to upgrade the current filtration system for higher water quality.
• Advocacy & Partnerships: We seek to collaborate with local government and water service providers for sustainable supply.

Thank You!

To our incredible donors, thank you for bringing hope and health to our community. Your support continues to transform lives by meeting a basic but vital need — clean water. We invite you to keep journeying with us as we build a healthier, more resilient community.

With gratitude,

Joshua Omondi Ochieng

Project Manager

Sheepcare Community Centre

Links:

• Our Website